Adam Lambert Joining the Cast of 'Glee'

Adam Lambert will be joining the cast of Glee, according to creator Ryan Murphy. No specifics yet on the role.

Towleroad Talking Points: O'Reilly, Bieber and Palin

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Nick Youngquest is the new face of Paco Rabanne.  

BY SAM GREISMAN

A look back at today's top stories

WINGNUTTERY

There are times when Bill O'Reilly seems almost, dare I say it, sane. One of the times occurred on his show last night when he argued that telling a gay person they are going to hell should be a crime. Why can't you be like this all the time Bill? In a laughable move, an anti-gay group has launched an alternative to the Boy Scouts intended for boys who aren't all in your face about being gay. Anti-gay activist Matt Barber believes that marriage is owned by God and no law will make him feel differently. 

Justin Bieber is quickly becoming a menace to society. The most recent evidence comes courtesy of a video which shows the teen idol pissing into a mop bucket in a restaurant kitchen and insulting Bill Clinton for some inexplicable reason. A recent study is pointing to fear of unwanted sexual advances as the leading cause of homophobia and get ready because Sarah Palin might be running for office again. 

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ENTERTAINMENT

Showing how enlightened he really is, Andrew Garfield spent a portion of his recent Entertainment Weekly interview wondering why Spiderman can't explore his sexuality. Harry Shum may be off of Glee but thankfully that isn't gonna stop him from posting shirtless pics. Also Daft Punk now has condoms for when you "Get Lucky". 

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VIDEOS OF THE DAY

Now that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of marriage equality, gay men and straight men have worked out a tentative peace over the latter's girlfriends. In celebration of the 4th of July, Willam was in Fire Island to check out all the drag festivities and take a look at a gay quartet playing a mash-up of Mozart and Kelly Clarkson. 

Wiltay Wants You to Be True to Yourself: VIDEO

Artist Wiltay released the music video to his dance tune "Hola" yesterday. It's a simple, catchy song that encourages you to be true to yourself. Included in the video are drag queens, Michael Jackson-esque dance troupes, Mighty Morphin Power Ranger gang signs, tiny Bayonetta cocktails, and Katy Perry's chest-fireworks. Trigger Warning: the opening sequence includes a mime. 

You can watch the full delightfully kitschy video AFTER THE JUMP...

LGBT Advocates Respond To Orson Scott Card's 'Plea For Tolerance'

Previously, Towleroad has reported on the controversy surrounding the upcoming big-budget film adaptation of Ender's Game, and the subsequent plea for tolerance by the original novel's homophobic author. Now, the LGBT, Geek, and Queer Geek communities are issuing their responses, and none seem very receptive to Orson Scott Card's arguments. 

In his exclusive with Entertainment Weekly, Card (who also happens to be the the great-great grandson of Mormon icon Brigham Young), made several key declarations that many chose to focus on in their responses. First, he claimed that the novel's dystopian future setting exempted it from the "political issues that did not exist when the book was written in 1984." Second, he declared that the recent Supreme Court rulings render "the gay marriage issue" a moot point. Third, he attempted to turn the tides of "bigotry" upon the very people who were criticizing him:

"Now it will be interesting to see whether the victorious proponents of gay marriage will show tolerance toward those who disagreed with them when the issue was still in dispute."

Our own Christian Walters had a few things to say in response, as did GeeksOUT, the group behind the "Skip Ender's Game" boycott. As the group was kind enough to point out, "the Bill of Rights protects your freedom of speech but it does not protect your right to a blockbuster opening weekend." They went on to explain...

"This is not and has never been about a much beloved sci-fi novel. Leaving aside the fact that Card thinks gay civil rights didn’t exist in the mid-80s, which is pretty insulting to the post-Stonewall generation frontline against a little something called AIDS—this is about us, here and now. This is about our community refusing to financially support an extreme anti-gay activist. We didn’t read his diary, and we’re not taking dinner table conversation out of context—Orson Scott Card has a very public record of far-right comments against marriage equality as a concept and LGBT folk as human beings." 

The response then goes on to lift excerpts from Card's decades of anti-gay activism, as well as discredit his argument that LGBT rights are currently a moot point. Meanwhile, Joe My God turned his attention to NOM, the anti-gay hate organization for which Card currently serves as board member. The group released a tweet decrying the fact that, since Card has publicly supported "traditional marriage", he has been added to what is being called the "New Hollywood Blacklist". As Joe was kind enough to point out, the group made no mention of Card's apparent surrender to marriage equality advocates and LGBT rights activists. After all, declaring "the gay marriage issue" moot would apply to both sides of the debate in question. 

Salon chose a slightly different approach, choosing to sift through Card's life and work to analyze precisely why he has become "one of the powerful and influential authors in the industry" as well as "one of the most openly bigoted". The result is an exposé of "he paradoxical mishmash of Cardian beliefs that might provoke some brain-scouring and heated debate among sci-fi fans near you as the buzz for Ender’s Game starts to grow." The piece's writer, Aja Romano, not only pulls highlights from Card's activism, but also sifts for anti-gay subtext in Card's fictional writing, referencing works such as Hamlet's Father, The Homecoming Saga, and Ender in Exile. Romano was also kind enough to delve into Card's hypocritical background in fan fiction, a practice he publicly ridiculed before choosing to engage in it himself. There's also some gay adult Ender's Game fan fiction thrown in for good measure. 

As of now, no comments have been released from Lionsgate, the studio that financed and will be releasing the film, nor have any been released by any member of the cast or crew of the film. As GeeksOUT pointed out in their response "now would be an ideal time". They also summarized their response with a declaration:

"No matter what happens with Skip Ender’s Game, American voters have already rejected Orson Scott Card's and NOM’s extreme anti-gay agenda. Whether they’ll continue to fund it at the box office remains to be seen."

Do you plan on boycotting the film? Is a boycott even necessary or appropriate? Sound off in the comments below...

Fans of Gay 'Big Brother' Contestant Andy Herren Fundraise for Charity Against Homophobia, Racism

Chances are that you've already heard about the controversy surrounding certain Big Brother contestants and their bigoted remarks. You may have even seen the video that compiled all of the various bigoted clips into one. 

Now, fans and friends of Andy Herren, an openly gay contestant on Big Brother 15, want to channel the subsequent controversy towards a good cause, and "raise awareness and promote positivity." While Herren himself is unable to contact the outside world, the #FandyNation, have set up Plan G fundraising page, and are using it to raise funds for The Trevor Project. 

"While seeing this negativity in the world can cause additional negative emotions, we see it as an opportunity to raise awareness and promote positivity.Those of us at #FandyNation (fans of Andy) home base fully believe that in the face of prejudice we all have an opportunity to change the message into one that makes a positive impact. That's why we're raising money for a cause we and Andy care about, The Trevor Project."

Their goal is to raise at least $25,000 while the current season of Big Brother airs, as well as to promote #BB15Equality across various social media platforms. Anyone wishing to participate in the campaign can check out their page, or track their hashtag on Twitter.

NYC's Ansonia and the Gay Bathhouse That Formed One Chapter in its Life: VIDEO

Vanity Fair is running a new 8-part mini-doc web series called Eminent Domains about famous New York buildings, and they're starting with The Ansonia, the former hotel at Broadway and 73rd that once housed the Continental Baths, where Bette Midler got her start. That's just one chapter in its colorful history.

Check it out, AFTER THE JUMP...